During the house buying process it always seems as though there’s something to compromise on. No matter how big the budget you have to be incredibly lucky not to let go of one or two aspects of your wish-list.

With our first house we compromised on period, size and style to get a pad in a village location. The house as so tiny we had to keep some of our everyday food supplies in the loft. Seriously there just wasn’t enough room for a can of beans let alone a tin of biscuits. This sacrifice meant we could live in a sweet village with a sun drenched garden and our own driveway. Apologies for the family album in the slider but as we moved out of that house in 2011 before Instagram took hold and so the only pics I have document the early years of my niece’s life as well as our decor. Check out those dress-up shoes and the inherited black ash furniture!

Given the smaller than average dimensions of house number one, we were after heaps more internal space with our second property. I also wasn’t prepared to budge on a period house. After the straight walls and lack of features in our newish-build I was after character and lots of it.
In bagging ourself an 1850s terraced cottage with three double bedrooms we sacrificed outside space on a big scale. The cottage didn’t even have a pavement outside the Farrow and Ball painted front door, dropping straight on to the street where our cars were parked. Rear access to the garden was through the house and every inch of our small east-facing courtyard was overlooked.

When we began the search for our current house our budget was larger and thus I felt far less inclined to compromise. I bloody well would have a detached period property with a south facing garden AND a driveway. James would have a garage and we would move further down south to shorten his commute.
No we wouldn’t actually. Early on in the process we had to ditch plans to move to a village closer to Milton Keynes. Four bed period properties in our budget had teeny gardens, crazy layouts and street parking. We were not prepared to compromise on outside space and moved the search closer to home but where were all the sun-traps? Not in Northamptonshire it would appear. A south-facing garden turned into the holy grail.
It was love at first sight when we found our current home. It didn’t matter the garden faced north as it’s large enough to get sun all day. We glazed over the fact we were joined on one side and that the fourth bedroom is downstairs plus the hallway is super slim. (Since someone usually asks, the lamp in the hall image is a bargain from The Range). Our commutes to the office are now actually longer than they were before but I’m glad we were realistic. We would have been foolish to have disregarded this house simply because it was on the wrong side of the street.

What did you sacrifice from your wish-list when you found your home? This applies as much to rented as it does owned. Good housing stock is few and far between!

On another entirely different note, Lolly’s husband Ste is sharing his experience on becoming a Dad over on RMF and unfortunately I can’t be held responsible if you shed a tear.